Monthly Archives: January 2012

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Jim Rome’s multi-year deal with CBS to launch a new half-hour show on the network’s cable channel, CBS Sports Network, called “Rome” that’ll air weekdays at 3 p.m. (PDT) starting April 3 as well as hosting a new sports and entertainment series on Showtime this fall was finally announced this morning.

CBS said Rome will also contribute to network coverage of the NFL, NCAA basketball and U.S. Open tennis, as well as be featured on CBSSports.com.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jim Rome to the CBS family,” said Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports in a press release. “Jim is a high profile, marquee talent who elevates our overall sports coverage and is a perfect fit within the growing platforms of CBS Sports and Shwtome sports.”

Rome replied that he was “ecstatic” and “fired up” for the launch of ‘Rome.’ “CBS Sports is the pinnacle, and I’m ready to get after it.”

Mark Shapiro, Rome’s former producer on ESPN2′s “Talk 2″ long ago who rose to be executive producer of ESPN, is now the chief executive officer of dick clark productions, which will be doing the Showtime side of Rome’s activity. Shapiro is the executive producer of both Rome shows for CBS Sports Network and Showtime.

“I look forward to working with the production team and have been searching for an opportunity to work again with Mark Shapiro,” said Rome.

The TV side won’t change the fact that Rome will continue to host his nationally-syndicated radio program from 9 a.m. to noon (PDT) based on Orange County. It has 244 affiliates.

The Dodgers and Fox have settled their lawsuit, removing an impediment to the sale of the bankrupt team.

In a motion filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, the Dodgers said they were abandoning their attempt to sell future media rights and will adhere to their contract with Fox’s Prime Ticket subsidiary, which has an exclusive negotiating window from Oct. 15 through Nov. 30 this year.

The team said in a statement “this agreement is a significant step towards a successful sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers.”

Former Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo, who came over from Japan and opened the doors for future player imports, and famed Pacific Coast League slugger Steve Bilko are among the first-timers to appear on the ballot for the Pasadena-based Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals.

After of years of sidesteping requests to have his likeness cemented in bobblehead fame, Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully has agreed to be one of 10 bobblehead giveaway promotions that Dodgers will stage for the 2012 season, the team announced today.

The Scully bobblehead will come out on Thursday, Aug. 30, when the Dodgers face Arizona. Expect it to be listed as a sellout minutes after the single-game tickets go on sale. And if we’re allowed to suggest: Make it in a way that it has one of Vin’s call (the Gibson home run?) at the press of a button.

The Dodgers are using the series to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium.

“Since I won’t be here for the 100th anniversary, I agreed to do the 50th,” Scully said. “Otherwise, I would be open to questions as to why I didn’t do it. It’s far easier this way.”

The UCLA store has announced a new line of John Wooden apparel that “embodies the quality of UCLA and the character of a legend.”

It’s basically a bunch of retro T-shirts, some of which are really pretty neato. And others that, well ….

This $31 tight women’s style shirt that asks “What Would Wooden Do?” Perhaps not plaster his name across his breastplate in this fashion. But then, who’s to say? We see no NCAA violation in that. If only there was a “WWWD” bracelet to accessorize.

Royalty proceeds from this special collection support the Nell and John R. Wooden Scholarship Fund, awarded each year to a deserving UCLA undergraduate student. So there is a good cause attached to the steep-ish price. For more info, go to this link.

For our $34, we’d be OK wearing the John Wooden Basketball Camp shirt. If only we still had our original.

(AP Photo/Curtis Compton – Atlanta Journal Constitution)Dwyane Wade, left, and LeBron James, center, who did not play because of injuries, react while on the bench as the Miami Heat defeat the Atlanta Hawks in triple overtime last Thursday in Atlanta.

In a rivalry week where the Clippers clash with the Lakers, USC reunites with UCLA and even Pepperdine posts up against Loyola Marymount, sorry, but this one has more curb appeal. Even though Dwayne Wade (foot) and LeBron James (ankle) have been questionable on a game-to-game basis lately, the fact that both will likely rise to the occasion to give Chris Paul and Blake Griffin their first real test under the spotlight gives all of reason to pay attention. Of course, the 8-1 Heat, also 5-0 on the road and leading the league in points and assists per game, will be back in L.A. one more time, facing the Lakers on Sunday, March 4. But why wait? This is where it pays to have two NBA teams in one city, especially in a shortened season.

MONDAY

College football: BCS title game in New Orleans: LSU vs. Alabama, 5:30 p.m., ESPN:

LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson has gone on the record that if the top-ranked Tigers outlast the second-ranked Crimson Tide to finish 14-0, “I think we will go down as the greatest team.” Ever. In college football history. The USC team of 1972, Nebraska’s teams of 1971 and ’95, and a couple other Alabama teams might have an argument. LSU tailback Michael Ford adds they can be regarded as “arguably the greatest team in college history.”

They’ve beaten eight Top 25 teams, and six of them away from home, including the 9-6 overtime win at Alabama. Since neither team scored a touchdown in that meeting, why wouldn’t another fateful kick be in the makings this time? Alabama’s Cade Foster (right) missed three of his four attempts last time, including a 52-yarder in OT; LSU won it on a 25-yard field goal by Drew Alleman. We’ll see if Alabama coach Nick Saban sticks to his plan to use Foster on kicks of 42 yards or longer and Jeremy Shelley, who had a kick blocked against LSU, on shorter tries. Foster is 2 for 9 this season; Shelley is 16 for 20. LSU coach Les Miles, meanwhile, says that he expects the game to be “big boy football. And I’d expect it to be very, very physical.”

NHL: Kings vs. Washington, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:

Alex Ovechkin makes his only So Cal appearance of the season, having had a seven-game point streak snapped during a loss in San Jose on Saturday night, where he ended up with a minus-3 rating. If the Kings’ defense thinks it can do an equally swift job on containing the All-Star Cap, that’s fine. But the Kings’ offense must do better than 0-for-8 on the power play as it did in the 1-0 loss Saturday against Columbus.

How about Bubba Watson pull himself together and chase down Stricker? All he has to do is make up 15 strokes.

Baseball: Hall of Fame announcement, 11 a.m., The Baseball Network:

Barry Larkin, Jack Morris, Lee Smith and Jeff Bagwell are waiting by the phone. Maybe it’s best they find something else to do. Larkin lines up as the leading candidate to gain election to the Cooperstown this time around, having come close a year ago (receiving 62.1 percent of the needed 75 percent, an improvement over 51.6 percent in his first year of eligibility in 2010). While he spent his entire major league career with the Cincinnati Reds from 1986-04, Larkin hit .295 with 198 home runs, 960 RBIs, 2,340 hits and 379 stolen bases. Nice, solid numbers. But Hall worthy? Add in that he won three Gold Gloves and was part of the 1990 championship team. Maybe not. If he is elected, he would be inducted on July 22 with the late Ron Santo, voted in last month by the Veterans Committee. The real intrigue comes in 2013 — Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are eligible for the first time along with Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa.

TUESDAY

NBA: Lakers vs. Phoenix, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:

What’s up with this new round of Steve Nash trade rumors? Because the Suns aren’t up to par for him anymore? Phoenix is only averaging just 92.9 points a game, 19th best in the league. The team hasn’t averaged last than 105 points a game over the last four previous seasons.

NBA: Clippers at Portland, 7 p.m., Prime:

The Clippers are last in the league at 35.3 rebounds a game, about seven more a contest that they’re allowing to their opponents. The Blazers are in the top eight at 44.7 boards a game.

WEDNESDAY

NBA: Lakers at Utah, 6 p.m., Channel 9:

The Jazz are 4-0 at home already, a lot of it based on the strength of their bench. Which, remarkably, is led by former UCLA point guard Earl Watson. Yes, he’s still around (that’s him, right, trying to guard Denver’s Andre Miller).

THURSDAY

College basketball: Loyola Marymount at Pepperdine, 7 p.m., ESPNU:

The Lions (9-7, 2-1 in the WCC) and Waves (7-8, 1-3) split their two meetings last year — each winning at home, each game decided by three points. They’re calling this the PCH Cup series now. Sponsored by a local bank. Bank on a tight one.

NBA: Kings vs. Dallas, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:

One of Jonathan Quick’s league-best six shutouts was against the Stars, but that was back on Oct. 22. Since then, he’s given up three goals on two occasions to Dallas, and the Stars have split the previous four meetings.

The first full-field event of the season should make for some more intriguing results, especially since the Tour moves to Palm Springs after this one.

FRIDAY

NBA: Lakers vs. Cleveland, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:

Kyrie Irving, the Cavs’ 19-year-old rookie point guard out of Duke, has put up about 14 points, five assists and four rebounds a game so far. So Baron Davis was apparently expendable?

SATURDAY

NBA: Lakers at Clippers, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., Channel 9, Prime:

If you want the two exhibition games last month to mean something, then the Clippers’ 19- and five-point “victories” force the Lakers to do some catching up. The only real news those two meetings produced was Kobe Bryant’s wrist injury, which kept him out of the second game and has bothered him since, even though he’s averaging 27.8 points, second best in the league. Their only other head-to-head matchups from here: Jan. 25 and April 4.

The 49ers’ 13-3 finish under new coach Jim Harbaugh is their best since another 13-win season in 1997 under another rookie coach, Steve Mariucci. That team 14 years ago made it to the conference title game before losing to Green Bay, 23-10, at Candlestick Park. The Niners are best in the NFL against the run but rank 16th against the pass, so no matter what rep the Saints have as a road team, they can find an opening here. As for the Patriots defending the No. 1 seed in the AFC against the power of Tim Tebo: Best of luck to no matter what team has to match up against Tom Brady in frosty New England. As “Jesus”/Jason Sudeikis said in that “Saturday Night Live” sketch a month ago when he was trying to tell Tebow to tone it down a little bit: Brady is, if not the son of God, at least his nephew. That was right before the Patriots’ Week 15 win over the Broncos, 41-23, in Denver.

NHL: Kings at Calgary, 7 p.m., FSW:

These two teams didn’t even face each other at all in the first half of the season; now they have four meetings in the second half. Jarome Iginla scored his 500th career goal the other night in a win against Minnesota — you think the Kings are still interested in adding his offensive punch to their lineup in some kind of trade?

SUNDAY

College basketball: UCLA at USC, Galen Center, 6 p.m., FSW:

On the night that the Trojans honor former star Harold Miner by retiring his No. 23 jersey and handing out bobbleheads in his likeness, it doesn’t hurt that USC has won four of the last five meetings against the Bruins. Miner’s USC teams beat UCLA four times in six tries during his three seasons from 1990-92. As a freshman, he hit a free throw with 30 seconds left to secure a 76-75 upset over the 16th-ranked Bruins. In Feb., ’92, Miner had 29 points and a season-best 13 rebounds as the 13th-ranked Trojans stunned the fourth-ranked Bruins, 83-79, beating them for the second time that season before a sellout of more than 15,000 at the Sports Arena. “UCLA has such a great program, and for our team to beat a team the caliber of UCLA is unbelievable,” Miner said after that second win. “I know it’s a longshot that we would beat them twice, but our team comes out and fights and we always believe we can win in any situation.”

The Packers reached the playoffs as the sixth seed in the NFC last season, then went on the road to Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago, knocking out the conference’s top three seeds en route to their Super Bowl title. They’ve got a completely different trip this time — can the top seed in the conference handle the extra Lambeau Leap pressure every week from here on? Of the last six Super Bowl champions, four of them had to play in the first round of the playoffs. “I was so amused with all the talk about the No. 1 seeds,” said Randy Cross, the former Crespi High and UCLA star who played his entire career with the 49ers. “Who wants to be a No. 1 seed these days? When do they ever win anymore? That just puts a bigger target on you. Do you want to be on a roll or do you want to be rested? Being rested has become more like being rusted.” Meanwhile, rookie Texans QB T.J. Yates should get steamed alive on the road in Crab City.

NHL: Kings at Edmonton, 5 p.m., FSW:

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers’ 18-year-old rookie center who put up 13 goals and 22 assists in the team’s first 38 games, was included in the recent ESPN magazine in their “Next” issue, touting the stars of the future. Meaning, he’s the next big deal in the NHL. Next up: Another trip to the trainers’ room, as he’s expected to miss the next few weeks with a separated shoulder.

Tennis: Australian Open first round, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2:

The “news” scroll on the Aussie Open website notes that “Andy Roddick is in Melbourne with a new Mohawk haircut.” Roddick, who has eight months left in his life before he turns 30, may be having one of those end-of-career crisis situations. In the 2011 event, Roddick registered 76 aces, second most in the whole event. But he lost in the fourth round. Novak Djokovic needed only 51 aces to win it all and go on to finish 70-6 overall with 10 titles and three majors.

Jon SooHoo/L.A. DodgersDr. Frank Jobe, center, meets with with Tommy John, left, and Orel Hershiser in 2008 at Dodger Stadium — the two Dodgers pitchers whose careers he was able to extend through breakthrough surgery.

No matter how many athletes’ lives he may have improved with his orthoscopic breakthroughs, Dr. Frank Jobe’s legacy in the sports world will be likely defined by three words: Tommy John surgery.

Nearly 200 Major League Baseball players – not all of them pitchers — have had their careers extended by the ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery in their elbow, one that Jobe decided to try with the 31-year-old John, then a Dodgers left-handed pitcher in 1974 who was on the verge of retirement.

John went on to pitch another 14 more years and win 164 more games than the 124 he won in the previous 12 seasons.

Another Dodgers All-Star, Orel Hershiser, came up with an unstable right shoulder in 1990, also at age 31. He added 10-plus seasons after Jobe figured out a way to reconstruct the ligaments in the rotator cuff and joint.

In recognition of his lifetime contribution to the sport, Jobe will be given the Dave Winfield Humanitarian Award by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation at their annual “In The Spirit of the Game” banquet at the Century Plaza Hotel on Jan. 14.

The soon-to-be 87 year old (see his bio here) who holds the title of Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Dodgers has retired from practice, but is often consulting with patients and doctors at the renowned Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic near Culver City.

He showed his patience by answering some of our questions in light of his pending honor:

Q: It’s been said that you’ve done more than 1,000 Tommy John surgeries yourself and have changed or saved the career of 1,800 athletes with your orthopaedic procedures. Does that sound accurate?

A: Well, it might even be more. The reason I say that, is just from this particular operation that’s been named after Tommy John, it’s hard to know really how many you did. After we started doing them, and found they could be successful, and the failure rate was fairly low, people all over the country started doing them – maybe one or two a week now.
The practice load lends itself to doing this on baseball players because there are so many more of them than in other sports – and on so many levels. I know James Andrews (a famous colleague in Alabama), who works for the Cincinnati Reds, does many operations for those who aren’t on the professional level.

L.A. Dodgers file photo

Q: Talk us through how you were able to convince Tommy John to do that first experimental operation and how nervous you must have been about doing it. You gave him a one-percent chance of recovery at the time, and about an 18-month recovery period. Why would he have taken that?

A: I think the discussion about the surgery itself was a very interesting thing. Should I have done it or shouldn’t I? Every circumstance is different. Tommy happened to be in my office talking, and we already had told him about all the potential complications. I was ready to sign his papers for retirement. I wasn’t even sure I should have brought (the operation idea) up in our conversation. I had no idea if it would be successful. I really wasn’t sure. We got to a point where we kind of looked at each other and he said, ‘That makes sense, let’s do it.’ I think those were the three words that changed the course of baseball medicine for the rest of time. ‘Let’s do it.’

He had so much expression in his voice when he said it. So, I put it on the schedule. We did it. And really, the rehab was all up to Bill Buhler (the Dodgers team trainer). He spent a lot of time in the training room, creating a lot of special exercises for his upper extremity. A year passed, he was able to pitch again, and he got people out.
But I didn’t do another one for about a year, maybe longer. I thought maybe it was a fluke. I thought we probably would never do another one again. I really waited a long time before the next one – and that worked, so more and more happened.

Q: So what would have happened if that first pitcher who had the surgery wasn’t named Tommy John? What if it was Van Lingo Mungo? Or J.J. Putz? Tim Spooneybarger? Would that have changed the popularity of the surgery moving forward? Shouldn’t it have been called the Frank Jobe surgery?

A: I’ve often thought that same thought. It’s such a nice name, Tommy John. It rolls off the tongue very nicely. I thought about (Frank Jobe surgery), too, but I think it works better as ‘Tommy John,’ don’t you? When we’d do them in the office, we’d have a player come in and we’d start describing it to him as, well, ‘we’re taking a ligament and grafting it to this and . . . like what we did to Tommy John.’ So that’s when they knew what we meant. After a while, everyone was calling it that. It’s nice. It just fits.

Q: What about the revolutionary shoulder reconstruction you did years later for Orel Hershiser. Wasn’t that just as important in your eyes — especially since it was more complicated and had so many more moving parts — as the elbow reconstruction with Tommy John? Does it get overlooked somewhat?

A: That really was something that kind of gets put in the shadows. We had great results with it, and it was groundbreaking. That was due to the advancements in arthroscopic surgery where you could do more without cutting so much tissue. That cut down on the time it took and eliminated a lot of unnecessary surgery. But you’re right. It turned out to be a great surgery.

Q: How have either of the surgery procedures changed much over the years?

A: The Tommy John surgery hasn’t changed very much. It’s quite the same. The doctors have learned how to make incisions carefully. The Orel Hershiser surgery doesn’t even start the same way anymore. It’s all done inside the shoulder, and getting there is a very different thing.

Q: You started working with the Dodgers in 1964 – when Sandy Koufax was in his prime. Do you ever wonder what kind of career he could have had if he had access to this kind of medical technology just 10 years earlier?

A: I’ve seen him many times in spring training, and, sure, he’s brought it up. He’d say, ‘Why didn’t you do that on me?’ He knows that the problems he had with his elbow were the same (with Tommy John). If he had just been a little younger, maybe we could have taken advantage of it. But we simply didn’t know what do for them back then (before he retired in 1966). He pitched at that time with an elbow that hurt him every time he pitched, and it wasn’t a good thing to happen. Maybe if he could have waited three more years, we’d have been able to do more.

Q: Is there a false perception that those who have the elbow surgery come out stronger than they were beforehand after a year off and with all the training involved?

A: That is the perception, but it’s a wrong one. The stronger reason is they come out and work harder in rehab so much better now than they did years ago. I see people all the time who bring their kids in and ask, ‘Can you fix him?’ I have to spend the time telling them that Tommy John wasn’t strong because of the surgery, it was the rehab. You had the same muscles working in the same order.

Q: Are there certain pitchers who are more susceptible to joint injuries than others? Can someone who throws sidearm or submarine be better off? Or even someone who throws a knuckleball?

A: It really is about exposing a weak area in the arm. A submariner might need repairs on certain things, just a knuckleball pitcher.

Q: One of the latest techniques used to repair a pitcher’s arm seems to be going toward bone marrow stem cells, which is what the Yankees’ Bartolo Colon had some success with, albeit with some controversy. Is that the ‘next big thing’ in athlete treatment?

A: There’s a lot conversation about it, and maybe there’s a lot of truth to it. But I don’t think we know enough to understand enough about it, if that makes sense. We can’t understand what we don’t know.

Q: You were inspired to be a doctor when you joined the Army and worked in a medical supply unit in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. You watched how doctors saved other soldiers’ lives. Do you ever think about what you might have done with your professional career had you not gravitated toward the medical field?

A: I really don’t know. I signed up for the Army when I was 18 and right out of high school. I didn’t think of anything else. I thought I’d decide once I got out. The doctors I saw were 36, 38 years old. I thought I could go back to school and do something worthwhile. So I headed to medical school.

Q: There’s been talk over the last few years that you deserve to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame for your contributions to the sport. Do you feel worthy of that honor?

A: I’d be happy to accept it. I’m not sure if I know what ‘worthy’ means. It’s been a wonderful 38 years (since the John surgery) , and if (the Hall acknowledge) happened, that would be a beautiful thing. I’d be very proud and happy about it.

Amidst reports that Jim Rome was leaving his ESPN2 show after eight years and moving over to the CBS Sports Network, the host of “Jim Rome Is Burning” offered only a message on his Twitter account at about 5 p.m. today: “I want to thank ESPN for the opportunity to host JRIB & all the support I received over the years. I’m looking forward to future endeavors.”

ESPN confirmed Rome’s last TV appearance on the network will be January 27 and said in a statement: “Jim has been a valuable part of the ESPN family for most of the last two decades. We wish him the best of luck in his new endeavor.”

Jim Miller, co-author of the book “They Have All The Fun” on the oral history of ESPN, tweeted out as well that he was told the offer for Rome to stay at ESPN was in the $1.3 million to $1.4 million a year.

Reports are that Rome, a Calabasas High grad born in Tarzana, makes upwards to $20 million a year hosting his weekday morning syndicated radio show for the Premiere Radio Network, based in the San Fernando Valley.

Since TheBigLead reported this morning (linked here) that Jim Rome was ready to exit ESPN ASAP after eight years when his “JRIB” contract ends — and then scoot over to much-more-difficult-to-locate CBS Sports Network — there’s been an interesting array of blip and blurb reporting done about whether this is true or not, since Rome hasn’t confirmed or denied.

Especially intriguiing is the Twitter-twatter on the subject.

Jim Miller, author of the “They Have All The Fun” book last year about the oral history of ESPN, has tweeted that “ESPN offered a lot of $ for Rome to stay, but it was too little too late.” Miller also writes: “Jim Rome evidently found out he was being moved to ESPN2 when they came out to do a promo campaign for the show. ESPN2 was in the script.”

We’ve known that Rome was not happy with the switch from ESPN to ESPN2 months ago.

John Ourand of the Sports Business Daily adds: “Source confirms CBS and Jim Rome are talking but deal isn’t finalized.”

Attempts to reach Rome, who just finished his national radio show and is en route to do his ESPN2 TV show, will be continued.

Rome’s only recent tweet is about how Forbes did a story about him and his horse racing endeavors (linked here).

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